Bass Pro Shops to St. Johns County means outdoor retail escalation

Bass Pro Shops is a big tourist draw for areas that have the behemoth outdoor sports stores in their areas. Although it has a notable hunting and sport fishing culture, the First Coast has so far missed out.

The closest Bass Pro Shops to this area are in Savannah, Ga., or Orlando. By early 2014, though, the region will have the retail equivalent of landing big one: a 104,000-square-foot megastore on 40 acres near Florida 9B and Interstate 95 in St. Johns County, next to a 14-acre lake that will be stocked with fish for instruction and competition.

It will create about 250 jobs to start.

Richard Goldman, executive director of the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and the Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau, said landing the Missouri-based company’s commitment was a collaborative effort. It involved the county Economic Development office, St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce and the visitors and convention bureau.

“It is a big deal,” Goldman said. The company “has a reputation for creating a destination. [In] St. Johns County and Duval County as a region, so much of our assets are associated with the outdoors that it made sense for them to put it in.”

St. Johns County spokesman Michael Ryan said the government’s development agreement with Bass Pro Shops is not complete and there are “preliminary discussions” about potential tax incentives. He said negotiations will be “expedited” after Jan. 1.

Goldman said the addition of Bass Pro Shops will increase the county’s exposure.

Outdoors customers already have their pick of two Gander Mountain stores, Black Creek Outfitters and will soon have an REI, plus many smaller retailers that specialize in fishing or firearms and sporting goods giants like Dick’s and Academy.

“I think the First Coast can support it,” said Scott Shine, a hunter safety instructor for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who lives on Jacksonville’s Southside. “I’ve actually encouraged growth in this industry. My concern, living in Jacksonville, is that this is going to St. Johns County.”

Aleizha Batson, spokeswoman for Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown, said the outdoor store would not have qualified for any tax incentives in Jacksonville. Still, the city is happy that Bass Pro is to be located nearby.

“Having a Bass Pro Shops right on the other side of the Duval County border helps to support our region as a destination for ecotourism and it helps to diversify options for consumers,” Batson said in an email statement.

In addition to being a destination location — its store in Missouri is the state’s biggest tourism draw, with more than 4 million visitors a year — Bass Pro Shops boasts that it’s the biggest of the big-box stores, with 77 retail locations. Still, one of its local competitors has no problem with the mega store heading this way.

“They pull people from a much larger base,” said Joe Butler, owner of Black Creek Outfitters, whose store focuses on hiking, camping and paddling gear.

“Any time a big-box retailer comes into town, they’re really good at picking off the low-hanging fruit,” Butler said. “But for a specialty store such as ourselves, the bigger retail stores have already been here. … I don’t think it’s going to affect our business much at all. I think it’s going to affect their [the other big-box stores’] business.”

Also, Goldman acknowledged that the impact Bass Pro Shops will have on the smaller bait and tackle and gun/outdoor shops is not clear.

“When big boxes of any kind of retail ilk move into a market, that can have a negative impact on local mom and pops,” Goldman said.

“But in many places, mom and pops respond and there usually is some price pressure on them. It’s going to be hard, there’s no doubt it. There’s always an adjustment. … I would expect that if we lose some, those are some we might have lost anyway.”

Thank you for bringing Bass Pro Shop closer to us here in Jacksonville. I love this store. I hope my father will still be around once it is opened. He use to do alot of bass fishing when I was growing up in South Carolina. If he wasn't at work he was fishing or flying his model air planes. Since he doesn't do any fishing now in his older years this would bring back some great memories for him.